Encounter 6: Heaven and Earth
<-Chūnin Exams Main It's the beginning of the second day, although it's difficult to properly gauge time in the dark environment of the undercity. After fusing into Team "Heaven", Kyoumei, Kagato, Zanzou and Kiritsu are approaching the central tower that lies at the heart of the city. Thanks to the rest and first-aid both teams received over the last several hours, they are rested and alert. Aside from the freshly-stitched cut in Zanzou's side, the team is fully functional and prepared for combat. Heaven quickly make its way on foot through the alleys, using the tower ahead as a marker to track their destination. Their search of the area around the belltower the previous night had been fruitless; Asami and Minobu had escaped. After gathering up the prayer beads and Asami's bow, they've been searching the city for their missing comrades without any results. Even their radio headsets were useless, since they only signal they could pick up on them was a bizarre blaring interference. Giving up, they have decided to try searching the inner districts of the city. Team Earth has had ample time to prepare their defenses. After awakening, Iris quickly departed their ranks to search for her missing teammate, Arahitogami. After eating breakfast and setting their traps, Team Earth has been awaiting the arrival of an enemy team. 'Pre-Combat Actions and Roleplaying' 'Team Earth' I hope Iris is fine, though I know she can take care of herself. Having stayed behind so Iris could fin her way back, Kinomi wished for the well being of her teammates. Hopefully, the next time she would see Iris, she would have Arah in tow, and they would both be safe. But for the time being, she stayed with Team Taki as it was safer. She'd descend into the underground soon enough though, as she needed to find the tech that Iwagakure needed, more than any village. But she decided to wait for the return of her teammates. In the meantime, she decided to help out Team Taki in their own pursuits. Finishing setting up a trap, she decided it was time to voice her request. Going to Aimi, the seemingly team leader, she would call her name out, hoping to start talking about her wish. One of the first up in the morning was Enpa, as she searched the premises for any intruders, letting her freezing ability seek out any potential unwanted company through cracks, under floorboards, etc. "Huh," she thought, "I wonder what the other teams are doing...." She went back to her using her freezing ability to coat part of the floor on the inside of the door, leaving enough solid floor so her teammates could maneuver around, while the sudden shift in terrain would send the opponents sprawling on their faces, should they be able to open the door of course. As a surprise for any who managed to make their way across, she readied several freeze bombs underneath the floorboards that would more than likely leave a little bit of a chill to those with the misfortune of crossing them. "Now all that's left to do is wait," she replied. Ankoku was third person to get up, waking up long after the drop in temperature and slight weather manipulation told her that Enpa and Kinomi were awake. Making her way out of the sleeping bag, she saw that both Enpa and Kinomi were busy setting up traps, hoping to catch the other team(s) unaware. "I do wonder who survived out of that bunch," she thought, using her earth release to manipulate the terrain slightly, creating some earth walls that acted as further fortification against the door, leaving the traps on the interior of the structure. Meanwhile, she opened the door to send out a powder clone to scout around, giving it careful instructions to avoid the frozen areas. Once it had left, she prepared to wait out the arrival of the other team, knowing that they would not be something to take lightly. 'Team Heaven' Kiritsu's features had finally returned to normal. Finally not feeling on edge, he could begin thinking of what to do next. And right now, the only thing his mind kept telling him was stick close to his team. Though he was initially discouraged not being able to find Minobu near the tower, he couldn't let it get to him. He figured they distanced themselves away from them, no doubt getting quite the headstart under the dead of night. The city was unimaginably huge, no doubt twice as big as Amegakure. Whoever built this city was quite the industrialist. Not having to worry about running from the voice in his head, he could get a better view of his surroundings, limited though it may be. "Whoever it was that designed this city was quite the architect. The buildings have a remarkably modern appearance to them despite the city's age." Kiritsu said to himself, admiring the buildings he could see. Some of the stronger buildings managed to stand the test of time, looking mighty and imposing, while the lesser buildings, those made of wood, have rotted away, no doubt a combination of the cavern system's murky atmosphere and termites making a hearty meal of the ancient wood. "You think so? It's too chaotic to me. The city has no streets, only alleyways. Navigating through is confusing. How did people manage to get around?", Kyoumei remarks on the surroundings. As she says this, she withdraws a candy bar from her pack and begins tearing it open. After freeing it from its wrapper, she snaps off a piece and tosses it into her mouth. "All these windowless buildings and towers. It's more like a prison than a city." "It's entirely possible the buildings that managed to survive served a purpose other than housing. Most of the buildings that would have been houseworthy have fallen apart. But these buildings, they don't seem rather homely. Seem more imposing, serving some much more different purpose. Regardless, let's keep on our toes. These alleys are the perfect spot for an ambush." Looking around, he noticed some of the buildings containing some sort of graffiti. Gently rubbing his finger across one of the letters, Kiritsu noticed it was made with some sort of charcoal and was in a very old language. "Seems even this city wasn't safe from vandals. Some of these buildings are tagged with some pretty old graffiti. The stuff used was charcoal judging by the texture. Would explain how it managed to stay on the walls after all this time." Kagato's eyes are distant and unfocused, his attention peripheral to the conversation between the two shinobi. He shifts uncomfortably as he redoubles his effort to maintain concentration on the link between himself and his familiar. The air is... saturated for a lack of a better term with... some kind of energy. A current of some kind, and the humidity while normally welcome instead feels as though it were threatening to drown him outright. A flash of irritation mars his stoic features, as Sozan narrowly dodges another obstruction. He peers below with the shared vision of Sozan as they scout the surrounding city, hoping to find some evidence of where their errant teammate could have gone. Sozin's is overcome with a powerful, persistent sense of confusion. Like most birds, he possesses an innate sense of the electromagnetic field lines which birds use to navigate, but whatever signal is blaring across every band seems to be affecting the ice-hawk as well. After Kagato narrowly averts a collision into a nearby building by extending his senses to his familiar, he quickly calls it back to him. Sozin dizzily traces a path back to its master after a moment of confusion, before clumsily alighting on his master's shoulder. His shadow clones gone, it was alone him again, walking along slowly with the others. Walking a little behind the others, slower due to not wanting to cause pain in his injured area, he was given more time to admire the underground. And more importantly, study it for future battles. A landing place here, a vantage point there. His sensory activated, he was actively on the alert, but most specifically for Minobu. The humidity made him sweat a little, his hairs perspiring. But still focused, he kept his peace. He was too focused on getting out of this place, after locating and finding his lost teammate, and getting the scrolls they needed. "You know, it's times like this it makes you wonder how such a place like this could have just vanished. Especially without leaving some trace of history to its origins. It's as if it was here one day, then gone the next. There had to be something at play here." Kiritsu couldn't help but wonder how a city this massive could have vanished from history without so much as a trace. It's almost as if it never existed in the first place, but here it is. The city of endless mysteries. Forming the handseals for Great Breakthrough, he let off a gentle breeze, blowing on the buildings, bouncing side to side to create an acoustics tunnel, giving them a little sound out of their surroundings. "Hear anything out of place, Kyoumei? I understand you've got sensitive hearing so I figured you'd probably hear something before we do. If the acoustics are too high, I can lower the winds some more, ease up on the acoustics." Kiritsu spoke to the blind but alert shinobi. Kyoumei listens carefully to the sounds emanating from the various alleyways. As they approach the waterfront to the flooded district, she hears something out of place; the sound of fluttering cloth or fabric. To Aimi, the presense of such a wind underground no doubt reveals the presence of intruders. The unsual acoustics are little more than a curiosity to Kyoumei, however. "That's strange. I think I hear some cloth fluttering in that direction," She says, pointing towards a large, five-story building. Encounter 6 Time: 11 AM, Day 2 Advantage: Team Earth Encounter Effects: The building has many rooms and interior corners. Movement can be used to break line of sight. Additionally, the floors themselves block line of effect between one floor to the next. The water outside is cool, but smooth and shallow. It rapidly increases in depth as the ground recedes towards the tower resting in the center of the city's valley. Round 1: Team Earth Aimi Kataihyouhi: Creates three large skin domes around the four, very wide and spacious. They form overlap each other, like layers of defense. (Delayed Defense, 3) Ankoku Hikari: Kinomi Harema: Kinomi tags the cardinal points of the inner most dome (except south) with an explosive tag, to blow the side of the building to the ground as an offensive attack. (Delayed Action, blows up when she activates it (3)) Enpa Tsuyujimo: Round 1: Team Heaven Meikyou Shisui: Kyoumei reaches the building and hesitantly examines one of the numerous spots that has the strange acoustics. She carefully and tentatively extends her hand, running it across the texture of the disguised skin. Emotions of confusion and mild disgust cross her face, as she feels the skin has a human temperature and a pulse. "This... this stuff. It's alive?!" Move "Team, the entire building has spots made from this material interspersed... they are all roughly square... someone has deliberately plugged the entrances to this building. I think there might be threats... let's stay alert." Kyoumei walks to a bare stretch of the wall, and places her ear against the surface, and plugs her other ear with her free hand. Taking Onsa Ken, she charges it with a powerful low-frequency vibration, and gently places its hilt against the wall. Waves of low-frequency vibration pass through the stone building. Although her senses aren't refined enough to determine the position of her enemies through the floor or walls by sound alone, it does reveal the presence of numerous traps throughout the building. The taught ninja wires, triplines and skin-lines that criss-cross the floors begin to hum and oscillate from the vibrations. Thanks to Kiritsu's temporary assistance with his hearing aids, Kyoumei is able to pinpoint the rough positions of the trapwires. "Damn. The place is rigged with traps. It seems each entrance has been trapped, and there is a cluster of them on one of the floors as well." Move "Zanzou, you should do a quick scan of the place and make some clones to keep watch here... we need to fall back and make a plan of attack, if there are indeed enemies within." After making this suggestion, Kyoumei darts away from the building, towards a smaller structure near the waterfront. While technically the second floor, half of it is inundated by the lake. After entering, Kyoumei waits for her allies to join her. Move Kagato Takamagahara: Kiritsu Taisei: Quickly, Kiritsu followed close behind Zanzou as he began to go towards Kyoumei. Getting into the building, waited for the water to drip off of his clothes before reuniting with Zanzou and Kyoumei. "Looks like this was a waterfront region at one point. The first floor of the building is completely flooded." Kiritsu spoke out.Movement "I've got an idea. Kyoumei, you might feel something covering your ears. These are my headphones. They'll help sharpen your hearing." Kiritsu spoke to Kyoumei, letting her know of his intentions. Taking off his headphones, he slid them onto her ears and adjusted the band to fit her smaller head. "There's a volume switch on the right side that you can adjust to best fit your hearing sensitivity. Just move that around until the sound feels most comfortable." Carefully, he guided Kyoumei's hand towards the volume lever. Action: Collaborative Heading near the doorway, he formed the first four handseals of Great Breakthrough just in case it's needed for anything, keeping his hands in the Rabbit seal formation. Action: Delayed Attack Zanzou: Disappointed he hadn't found Minobu with his quick sensing scan early, he had traveled in silence for the rest a the trip. Zanzou joined Kyoumei (Move) Zanzou resolved to do as Kyoumei said, creating four shadow clones, each of minimal chakra, of about 5% of his levels each. Having learned his lesson from the last encounter, he made sure his clones didn't have half his power with them, and made sure the clones would go in first. (Action) Sensing around, he picked up on the signatures of four people from within, before ceasing Sensing, and telling his allies his findings. (Action) Round 2: Team Earth Aimi Kataihyouhi: Ankoku Hikari: Kinomi Harema: Being told something has touched Aimi's skin, she draws a kunai, preparing to throw it at an intruder should they enter the spot the four are. Afterwards, she would fly upwards, to throw another at the enemy, able to alter her angle while flying. (Delayed Action, Move, Action. All Delayed) Enpa Tsuyujimo: Round 2: Team Heaven Meikyou Shisui: Kagato Takamagahara: Kiritsu Taisei: Zanzou: